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[forestcrap]

After the hole is sealed and Ninurta's done away with, your entire party is bippity bopped to the other side of the forest. If there were stragglers that got separated, you're all in one place again. If you lost gear, weapons, phones, whatever, it's back on your person, functional again. If you lost any organs you're on your own though. No but basically you've been bewitched to safety out of the forest and the evil noises have stopped, you're homefree, homies. There's a crow perched on a rundown fence post along the road watching you with beady little eyes before it takes off back into the forest.

The map takes you to a rundown little bed and breakfast not but a fifteen minute walk out that looks like it was abandoned a while ago. No foul play, just closed for business, the economy is rough when you're located next to a haunted forest. Feel free to avail yourself of its beds, there's no room service but least you don't have to pay.

[Mission: get your bearings, make sure all your shits there, do a headcount, follow the road. call dibs on a room. rest up]

Comments

[recurred]

[not really paying attention as she reaches out and places her hand on top of his to still it]

It's a tall order, either way. I get that.

[sawedoff]

[looks down at her hand before glancing away and down, clearing his throat and easing out from under hers to rub at the back of his neck. nooope. can't handle it. crosses his arms instead after a beat]

Do you even want it fixed? I mean you're not- it's not like you're any worse off for not knowing.

[recurred]

[hand kind of just hovers for a second before retracting back into a fold with her other arm before shifting her weight a little off the bar]

It's not about whether or not the memories are good or bad, it's something that's missing and staring me in the face every moment of my life. I want to remember.

[sawedoff]

And if you don't remember for a reason?

[leaning hip against bar so he's kind of half turned towards her, arms still crossed very guarded-like]

[recurred]

[well, that's a fair point. one she can't quite answer]

What, like I'm repressing a trauma?

[sawedoff]

In layman's.

[looks to her with the one eyebrow up deal, like he's not sure if that's what'll get her off the trail but at this point he's almost hoping it will because he's not seeing the advantages to opening that floodgate]

[recurred]

[tilts chin up a little, like she's studying him and drawing a conclusion. then her gaze falls and she takes a breath, shoving herself off the bar stool]

Okay.

[sawedoff]

Okay? Just like that?

[too easy. it's a trap.]

[recurred]

Goodnight, Dean.

[she's upset. its totally a trap]

[picks her bag up too and turns to head upstairs]

[sawedoff]

[fucking traps.]

[sighs and watches her upset her way to the stairs, dropping his hands to the counter top with a little defeated flop]

Wait.

[bitch don't angst away from me]

[recurred]

[but she's storming out so good. almost so good she debates stopping, doing that kind of shift of her weight back onto her heels as she grabs the doorframe. takes a deep breath and looks back over at him]

[sawedoff]

[tilts his head back and blows out an i really don't want to do this kind of breath before reaching into his jacket pocket and setting the recorder on the bartop, sliding it over to the other side with two fingers

i'm not explaining it just take it]

[recurred]

[looks down at it then up at him slightly confused and doesn't move for a moment, because she can tell a tough move when he makes it. its not like they're obscure.

walks back to the bar and reaches out to pick it up, hovering and watching him before finally doing so. turning it over in hand until she recognizes what it is,thumb hovered over the play button but not pressing it. stops and looks back up at him.]

[sawedoff]

You still want those memories after listening to that, we'll find a way to make it happen.

[holds a hand out to gesture at it before dropping his hand back down to the counter again. it's not his decision to make to tell her she can't have her memories, even if it's easier for him if she doesn't.]

[recurred]

[now she's looking at it like he just gave her a loaded gun, but she's not going to give it back now. thumbing the edge of it with some idle motion, expression growing slightly troubled.]

It's not that you don't want me to remember, you're afraid, aren't you.

[sawedoff]

Course I am.

[defensively, slides hand away from counter to take a step back and square off to look at her, down to the recorder and back up with like a little resigned shake of his head]

Y'lose your memories but come back fine otherwise? Why look the gift horse in the mouth? Don't know what can of worms you're gonna bust open if you go digging.

[he gestures with a hand pointedly at the thing but his tone of voice has less conviction, like he's not trying to convince her, just rationalizing the surface level of it. not getting into anything else that probably implied]

[recurred]

[this conversation feels recycled. she just worries at him for a moment over what he's said, like she's not convinced. taking a step forward, meeting the bar unable to go further.]

You'd think it'd be really bad. But you knew me, you know what's on this. What else is it? There's something else. [dont make me hop this bar, winchester.]

[sawedoff]

[you can hop all you want shorty. drags a thumb over his scratchy jaw and just keeps shaking his head like an anti-bobblehead]

Clara I'm sorry. For what happened to you. I'm sorry it was my fault and I let it happen. But I gotta second chance, so no matter what you hear on there. It's not gonna change anything. I mean it can't.

[drops hand to rap knuckles lightly against the countertop where it'd been. he kind of speaks slower than he would usually like he's thinking about it, choosing his words]

[recurred]

[shakes her head slightly like she's about to rear up and say something along the lines of 'no i dont care' stops, swallows back. itches at her temple a bit]

I know, I mean I figured. [smiles a little. trying to shrug it off like 'of course, duh' but one of those masking smiles that gets a little creaky. pushes herself away from the counter again because what else is she going to do there, and starts forcing herself away step by step.]

You know I hardly know a thing about you, but I feel like I know you so well. And even though I know what's missing, it's still so shocking that it...hurts this bad. That I can't make you happy. I don't want to be a ghost anymore, all I want to do is make it all better but I can't..can I?

[sawedoff]

[chews the inside of his lip and looks down instead of answering. there's a big resounding no hanging there that probably just doesn't need to be said after all that]

What it was like for me to lose you like that, I can't. [another shake of his head. at least he looks up at her again. feeling like a shmuck.] Can't do it again.

[is that what u wanted. are you happy you beat it out of him now. no.]

[recurred]

[no. no this sucks she didnt ask for this once. and she's stopped moving. knowing he was going to go somewhere along those lines, but still somewhat floored by hearing it out loud. leaving her just standing there feeling helpless at him. trying to convince herself to keep moving away because it's done, it's over.]

[but she just stays there until his lock on her gives up again. her jaw steels stubbornly as she drops her bag, scampering forward onto the stool and across the bar and grabbing him by his coat into a tight hug.]

[sawedoff]

[holds his hands up while she scrambles like he's not sure what she's about to do i mean she's slapped him before it's not out of the realm]

[still kind of straight-backed when she's hugging him instead of slapping him around, but he lowers his hands after a pause to rest at the back of her head and her shoulderblades]

[recurred]

[flexes fingers into the fabric across his back and keeps herself burrowed into his neck for a good moment. trying to pull herself together mostly]

I'm sorry. [sighs it out like she's just defeated. slowly releasing him with at least one hand, running it to graze atthe side of his face as she pulls back enough]

I'm so sorry I let you down.

[sawedoff]

[catches her hand and gives it a squeeze as he lowers it, offering her a bracing kind of smile. i mean that's not familiar or anything. definitely not what she was saying as she was croaking in a bloody pool on the ground]

Okay, stop. You're not- you're here. Somehow. Maybe a few fries short of the value meal but you're pretty much all in one piece. And you got a good thing going, you got your friend, you got a life to go back to now. So we're gonna get you home and you're gonna live your life, okay? You haven't let me down nothin. I couldn't ask for more.

[recurred]

[there's a protest somewhere in her that starts her by opening her mouth but she steels herself and closes it, slowly letting go of him to sink back onto her knees]

There's something inherently flawed with that plan. [uses the back of one hand to wipe at the corner of her eye.] You shouldn't expect me to let it go. [you know me. ill try but stubborn]